Cleaner energy: Answer may be blowing in the wind
China will try to make more use of solar, wind and geothermal energy during the 10th Five-Year-Plan period (2001-05). The country has also carried out a series of favorable policies including the reduction of import tariffs, value-added tax and enterprise income tax to encourage the development of clean energy. Furthermore, China will increase co-operation with foreign countries in such aspects as technology and equipment to help develop renewable energy. (China Daily, 9 July)

CSRC heavily criticized
The National People's Congress heavily criticized China's Securities Regulatory Commission in a report, claiming the chief securities watchdog fails to properly control the domestic stock markets. While reform of the financial industries is high on the agenda to prepare China for its accession into the WTO, foreign financial specialists have often criticized the CSRC for being too weak and too much part of the corrupt financial system. (SCMP, 9 July)

Industrial production up 11% in first half
In the first half of this year, China's industrial sector enjoyed an 11% growth on a year-on-year base. State-owned companies registered 9.5% of growth but foreign-funded companies contributed the lion's part to the industrial growth. (Xinhua, 10 July)

Electricity: Price restrictions to be lifted
The State's recent reform of the electricity pricing system marks China's first move away from a firmly controlled power sector and towards one governed by market forces, but there is still a long journey ahead before the industry is fully liberalized. The practice of guaranteed profit returns for newly built power plants will be abandoned. China used to individually set electricity prices for each plant, promising a profit return of 10-15%, in a bid to encourage investment in the power sector in order to ease electricity shortages. (China Daily, 10 July)

Wholesale industry gets go-ahead to receive foreign investment
Shanghai No. 1 Department Store (Group) Co. and Japan's Marubeni Corp. will form a joint venture to become the first wholesale company in China with the involvement of foreign funding. There are almost no large wholesalers in China, let alone competitive ones. (ChinaOnline, 10 July)

Rulebook unveiled to regulate e-banking
The People's Bank of China unveiled regulations governing Internet-based banking services in an effort to better police and promote healthy development of the burgeoning banking business. (China Daily, 10 July)

Banks chop forex rates to lowest level in 20 years
Chinese commercial banks lowered interest rates on one-year term deposits in USD and HKD to 2.5% and 2.625%. China's central bank has lowered interest rates on foreign-exchange deposits seven times since December 2000 following the fluctuation of interest rates on foreign exchanges in the international market. (ChinaOnline, 10 July)

CNOOC confirms joint venture talks
CNOOC - the mainland's third-largest oil company - has confirmed it is in talks with international oil firms Royal Dutch/Shell and Unocal, to sell them up to 40% of an East China Sea natural gas project. The firm had invited the two foreign firms to take part in developing the gas field, which is believed to be one of China's largest deposits. (SCMP, 11 July)

Beijing eyes Russian aircraft
China is about to sign a deal with Russian aircraft maker Aviastar. The potential deal is more a move out of political and strategic interest than out of demand of the Chinese air industry. In the last ten years, China has been rejecting Russian-made planes, which seem much more unreliable, unsafe, and come with worse service than their western counterparts of Boeing and Airbus. Financial matters may have played a role as the Russian planes are much cheaper than the European or American versions. (Wall Street Journal, 11 July)

Shenzhen hi-tech market: Premier puts plan on hold
Premier Zhu Rongji has decided to delay the setting-up of a hi-tech stock market in the special economic zone of Shenzhen due to the bursting of the technology bubble in the United States. A "technology board" will be set up within the Shenzhen main board instead. (China Daily, 11 July)

SAFE: Stop using foreign money to pay employees
It is against the law for businesses to pay salaries and wages in foreign currency, says China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Noticing that recently, the practice of using foreign currency for settling accounts has increased, a SAFE official has iterated that those settling accounts in foreign currency in China will be issued orders from SAFE and will be investigated and prosecuted according to the law. (ChinaOnline, 11 July)

Beijing to blacklist economic lawbreakers
According to the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce, companies, organizations, individually owned firms and individuals will be blacklisted in a new "Misconduct Record System" if they are found engaging in misconduct that upsets the market economy. The system will also cover foreign companies. Besides being fined, entities and individuals blacklisted under the system will be subject to government restrictions in their business development. Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce will release lists of blacklisted companies and on www.hd315.gov.cn. (ChinaOnline, 11 July)

Life after WTO: Breaking Barriers
The Far Eastern Economic Review looks at a major source of friction between China and the world after the country enters the WTO: local protectionism. While opening up to global markets in the past two decades, China's domestic economy has become more and more fragmented, riddled with local protectionist measures from crude roadblocks to sophisticated technical standards. (FEER, 12 July)

Listing open to overseas-funded firms
The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation issued a notice stating that foreign-invested companies in China can apply for A- and B-share listings, but must get permission from the ministry first. It is the first time the Chinese authorities have issued a concrete regulation to facilitate domestic listing for foreign-invested companies, opening a new and lucrative channel for their financing in China. (China Daily, 12 July)

State liberalizes prices on 10 items
Prices of 10 commodities including sugar, agricultural film material, natural rubber and coal for power generation have been liberalized. Only 13 products or services remain under State pricing control, mainly critical services like water and mail. (China Daily, 12 July)

China's exports shrink in June
China's exports fell 0.6% year-on-year in June because of weak demand from Japan and the United States, the first time export growth has been negative for two years. China had a trade surplus of USD 830 million in June, narrowing sharply from a surplus of USD 1.9 billion the same month a year earlier. In the first half of this year, China had a trade surplus of USD 8.14 billion narrowing nearly 34% from a year earlier. Exports rose 8.8% to USD 124.57 billion while imports jumped 14% to USD 116.43 billion. Despite the slowdown in export growth so far this year, China was still likely to record gross domestic product growth of near 8%, thanks to massive state investment and strong domestic consumption. (Reuters, 12 July)

Advertising revenues up 15%
Advertising revenues on the mainland last year were up nearly 15%, to RMB 71.2 billion. By the end of 2000, the number of advertising agencies registered on the mainland was a whopping 70'000. (Economic Daily, 12 July)

13th Wal-Mart supercentre opened in China
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has opened its 13th supercentre in China, in the city of Dalian. The store is the second for that city and is reported to be the biggest in Asia, with a floor space of 20'500 square meters. (China Daily, 13 July)

China's first state software industrial centers announced
The State Development Planning Commission and the Ministry of Information Industry announced China's first state software industrial centers, for Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, Guangzhou and six other cities. The mainland's software manufacturers are still quite small in spite of the rapid growth of the industry. (Economic Information Daily, 13 July)

China and Germany ink insurance agreement
China and Germany have reached a bilateral agreement on mandatory social insurance payments. According to the pact, German businesses in China and their employees who have German passports will not be required to pay endowment insurance and unemployment insurance. A similar exemption applies to Chinese businesses in Germany and their Chinese employees. The pact is designed to avoid the problem of overlapping insurance payments. More significantly, China expects that by signing such a pact, it can improve its insurance system and investment environment. (China Daily, 13 July)

Volkswagen to invest USD 1.45 billion in China in next 5 years
The investment shows China's importance to the company's strategic goals, say company sources, as Volkswagen AG wants to sell 450'000 sedans in China in the next five years. (ChinaOnline, 13 July)

China's first open-ended investment fund
Huaan Fund Management Co of Shanghai has received a licence to launch the first open-ended investment fund, but the timing will be set by China Securities Regulatory Committee. The fund will be capped at RMB 5 billion, with the minimum investment being RMB 10'000. It will be allowed to invest only in mainland yuan-dominated A-shares and domestic bonds. JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management has signed a MoU with Huaan on forming a fund management JV when the mainland's laws and regulations ease. (China Daily, 13 July)

Beijing Olympics stirs world business
Beijing Olympics is expected to have a major influence on the country's economic development. US investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates a boost to China's GDP by 0.3% per year from 2002 to 2008. The Olympics will prompt the country to embark on a huge infrastructure spending spree. Stock market watchers say many speculators are snapping up any stock with "Beijing" in its name. (China Daily, 14 July)

World Bank loan for sewage systems in eight East China cities
Anhui Province plans to build sewage discharge and treatment facilities in eight cities along the Huaihe River, with the help from a World Bank Loan of USD 71.25 million. (People's Daily, 15 July)

Weekly Market update		13 July 2001	6 July 2001
Shanghai A		2,251.33	2,261.85
Shanghai B		210.42	207.80
Shenzhen A		676.07	676.87
Shenzhen B		337.40	331.64
Hong Kong Red Chip		1,139.19	1,178.46
Hong Kong H		495.88	516.50